The man replied, "{Teveskaya Station}." Then he asked, "Brother, what did you get arrested for?" ”

Su Mengfan replied slowly: "I killed an officer." "He found it hard to talk about killing someone.

The man who hadn't shaved his face for a long time said sympathetically: "Oops...... They're going to hang you, right? ”

Su Mengfan shrugged his shoulders and turned around to lean against the lattice frame.

His neighbors assured him, "They will." ”

They will, soon, at this station, and they won't transfer him.

If you can drink saliva......

The rusty blood poured out of his mouth, moistened his dry throat, and perhaps he could talk to this man for more than a minute.

There was no water in the cage, but there was a foul-smelling tin bucket at the other end of the space, could he beg the jailer?

Maybe they'll accommodate someone like him who has already been sentenced to death?

If he is able to reach out of the lattice frame, shake it a little...... But his hands were tied behind his back, the rope was stuck in his wrists, and his hands were completely unconscious.

He tried to scream, but all he could do was rattle, which turned into a cough deep in his lungs.

When the two guards noticed him calling out to them, they both came to the cage.

One of the dogs grinned, "The rat is awake." ”

Su Mengfan turned his head back to look at the man's face, and whispered with difficulty: "I want to drink...... Drink. ”

The guard with the dog pretended to be surprised: "Drink water? What do you drink water for? You're going to be hanged, and now you want to drink water! No, we won't give you water, so you can die faster. ”

Su Mengfan couldn't have any water to drink, he closed his eyes tiredly, but the jailer obviously wanted to talk to him more.

Another guard asked, "People. Scum, you now understand who you're offending, right? ”

He nodded to Su Mengfan's neighbor in the next cage: "You mouse!" Do such stupid things for the sake of those idiots who stab you in the back with your knife!

Those...... The entire subway will soon be crammed with them, and you naïve rats will not even have a place to breathe. ”

The unshaved prisoner lowered his head, and Su Mengfan only had the strength to shrug his shoulders.

The first guard continued, "They beat the dogs too. Seed. He remembered the hard word.

Sidorov is right, the tunnel is the slaughterhouse, and these people have to destroy them! They are not good for our ...... The genebank ......" and then added, "They're trying to wreak havoc, and your old man is dead!" ”

Su Mengfan whimpered and said, "What? He was afraid of that, but he still wished that the old man wasn't dead, that he was somewhere here, in the next cell......

The guard who led the dog said happily: "That's right, he's dead." They burned him a little, but he couldn't stand it and died. ”

He was very satisfied, because now Su Mengfan finally responded to them.

"You are going to die, and all your relatives are going to die......"

He remembered the poem that Mikhail Polfilevich had recited, and now his soul stopped in the middle of the tunnel without a trace of concern in the world, and he took it out of his notebook and repeated it with emotion.

What is the content?

"The dead are screaming"?

No, the poet is mistaken, there will be no more glorious actions in the future, everything is a thing of the past.

He remembered what Mikhail "Polfilevich said, how he lost his old house, especially the old bed.

Then his thoughts began to condense, flowing more and more slowly, and then stopped completely.

He pressed his forehead against the cold metal lattice frame again, his mind sluggish.

He began to stare at the jailer's sleeve, which was painted with three left-handed swastikas—strange signs that looked like a star or a crippled spider.

He asked, "Why only three?" Why three? ”

He had to tilt his head in the direction of the man's armband so that the guards could understand what he was saying.

The man who led the dog replied angrily: "So, how much do you say you need?" You idiot, there are three stations! It means unity. And, when we arrive at the {Lenin Library Station}, we will add a fourth ......"

Another guard interrupted, "What do you say? It is an ancient symbol, an original Slavic logo! It's called the highest point, it belongs to the Germans, and that's when we started using it, before we lived in the station - you big-headed ghost! ”

Su Mengfan held back a few words: "However, there is no sun anymore......"

At this moment, he felt a darkness in front of his eyes, as if his eyes were covered by a mask, and his hearing was lost in a daze.

The guard with the dog declared with satisfaction: "He has gone mad!" Senya, let's go, let's talk to someone. ”

Su Mengfan sat there distractedly, unable to see anything, and he didn't know how long it had been.

Suddenly, he came back to his senses and slightly understood the vague scene just now, but everything seemed to be filled with the smell and atmosphere of blood.

However, he was glad that his body was beginning to connect with his mind, allowing him to be so relaxed and awake that he was no longer melancholy.

His neighbor moved his shoulder: "Hey, brother! Don't sleep anymore. You've been asleep for a long time! It's almost four o'clock now! ”

Su Mengfan tried to get out of the abyss of his unconsciousness, but it was difficult, like a lead block on his own feet.

He slowly returned to reality, the world in front of him blurred like an image of a film in a developer.

He asked hoarsely, "What time is it?" ”

The man with the dark circles replied, "It's 3:50." ”

3:50 p.m. ...... They might come and pick him up in about forty minutes. After an hour and ten minutes...... One hour and nine minutes...... One hour and eight minutes...... Seven minutes.

His neighbor asked, "What's your name?" ”

"Alcohen."

The man with the dark circles was happy that he could finally start a conversation: "I'm Lucian. My brother's name is Ahmed, and they shot him right then, but I don't know what they were going to do with me. My name is Lucian – maybe they don't want to get it wrong...... Where is your home? ”

Su Mengfan was not interested in any of this, but the conversation with his unshaved neighbor helped him fill and awaken his brain, whatever it was.

He didn't want to think about that room, he didn't want to think about his mission anymore, he didn't want to think about the future of the subway system, the place where humanity now exists, he didn't want to think about it, he really didn't want to!

Lucian laughed: "I'm from the Kyiv Cathedral. Do you know there? We call it Kyiv ......"

He bared a row of white teeth, and then he said proudly, "There are many of my people there...... I have a wife and children, one by one, three children, the eldest of whom has six fingers on his hand! ”

Now Su Mengfan wants to drink something, and he only needs one sip.

Even if it's lukewarm, he doesn't mind if it's lukewarm, or even filtered raw water, as long as it's water, just take a sip.

He fell unconscious again until the guards came to pick him up. He needs an empty mind that will not be disturbed by any thoughts.

He wanted his mind to stop turning, to stop feeling pain, to stop his mind from telling himself that he had made a mistake—

He didn't have the right to do that, he should have left at that moment, turned around, covered his ears, and kept going - from {Pushkin station} to {Chekhov station}.

And turn from there again, one time the car - it's easy, just turn the car once, everything is done, his task is done.

He'll still live...... He always wanted something to drink...... And his hands had become very numb, and he didn't feel anything.

When people have faith, it is much easier to die!

For those who believe that death does not mean the end of things, for those who see the world divided into black and white -

They know exactly what they need to do and why they need to do it, and they hold in their hands a torch of thought and belief that all things seem illuminated by it.

Those who have nothing to doubt and regret, they are bound to die comfortably, and they will die with a smile on their faces.

Su Mengfan thought of these words, but he couldn't let him be distracted anymore: "We used to have such big fruits and beautiful flowers!" I gave them to a girl, didn't ask her for money, and she gave me a smile......"

There was a sound of footsteps from the depths of the hall, several people were walking over, and Su Mengfan's heart tightened and turned into a small nerve mass.

Are they here to pick me up?

How could it be so fast!

He had thought forty minutes would be a long time...... Maybe his mischievous neighbor talked about it for a long time in order to give him more hope?

No, it can't be......

Three pairs of boots stopped in front of his cage, two of which were wearing speckled military pants and the other in black.

When the cage he was leaning on was opened, the lock made a grinding sound, and Su Mengfan barely lay on the ground.

Someone said, "Take him with you." ”

He was dragged by his arm and pulled up.

Lucian wished him in a parting gesture: "Good journey!" ”

The two men in camouflage were machine gunners, but not the two who had spoken to him, none of whom he had ever met.

Their third man, with a straight beard and light blue eyes, was dressed in a black uniform and wore a small beret.

He ordered, "Follow me." So, they dragged Su Mengfan to the other end of the platform.

He tried to go on his own, he didn't want to be dragged by these people like dolls......

If he had to die, he wanted to walk the road to death with dignity.

But his legs bent unobediently, and he could only lay them awkwardly on the floor, hindering the forward movement, so that the men in black uniforms gave him a serious look.